Illusions of Love
by Azarya
Summary: Twenty five of the most powerful Sakura Cards have disappeared and taken over humans. Unfortunalty, most people who are associated with the cards are clueless as to how this happened and how to stop it. S+S fic with E+T and C+T. ^_^ maybe a few other coup
1. On The Wings Of An Angel, She Carries Me...

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Illusions of Love ~ Chapter 1

~On the Wings of an Angel, She carries me.... 

The cool breeze made the leaves dance in the moonlight as a shadowy figure silently crept through the shadows to the Kinomoto residence. The figured faced the house and looked up towards the second floor. The wind caught the figures long, black cloak and made it dance in unison with the autumn leaves. It spotted the window in the moonlight and silently made it's way over to it. The figure then gracefully made it's way up to the sill.

Silently, the figure slid the window up and crawled in. Being sure not to wake the occupants of the room, the figure in shadow crept over to the desk and opened one of the drawers

Upon opening the drawer the figure found what it was looking for. The Clow.

The figured opened the book, which encased the powerful Sakura Cards and shuffled through the deck. It drew out 25 cards. These were the most powerful cards in the deck. Dark, Light, Earthy, Firey, Watery, Windy, Power, Fight, Shot, Arrow, Sand, Snow, Freeze, Storm, Mist, Thunder, Shadow, Wood, Illusion, Twin, Dream, Change, Create, Mirror, and Sword. It placed the rest of the cards back into the Clow and placed the book back into the drawer, closing the drawer tightly.

The figure then tucked the cards into its cloak. As the figure did, it dropped a card. Hope. The card fluttered to the ground, unnoticed. The figure then jumped out of the window and raced off into the night, the moon high in the dark, starry sky.

The girl and the room stirred restlessly in her sleep. She had no idea what had just happened or what she was in for....

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Beams of sunlight shone through the window lighting up Sakura's bedroom. She squinted against the sunlight and rolled over to face the wall, her intent was to go back to sleep. She hugged her Syaoran bear closer and sighed deeply.

"Sakura..." came a voice and a small, yellow, stuffed animal-like creature tapped her on the shoulder.

"Leave me alone.." She mumbled sleepily and smacked Kero away from her. The poor creature flew across the room before regaining its composure.

A small sweat drop appeared on the back of the beast's head and he clenched his fist irritably.

"Sakura! School!" He yelled as loudly as he possibly could with out drawing any unwanted attention from the rest of her family.

Sakura bolted upright and looked around wildly. "School?! Where?" She asked sleepily. She was in mid-yawn when it hit her. "Hooee!! I'm late!" She cried "Kero-chan! How come you didn't wake me up?! Why didn't my alarm go off?!"

"I did wake you up and your alarm did go off. Move your pillow." Kero quipped sharply. He hovered in the air, arms crossed and watched as Sakura moved her pillow to the side. Instantly a loud beeping noise omitted from the clock. Sakura shut the alarm off and set the clock back on the headboard of her bed. She then frantically raced around her room getting ready for school, hysterically chanting "I'm late!"

"When are you not?" Kero muttered sarcastically.

Sakura was just grabbing her Syaoran bear (honourably dubbed 'Syao-bear' in this fic. Also, both Touya and Kero-chan call Syaoran 'Gaki') when her brother opened her bedroom door. Kero fell to the floor with a soft thud.

"I'm leaving monster so if you want to meet 'gaki' then you better hurry up." Touya said, mimicking their father, Fujitaka.

"Quit calling him that!" Sakura snapped "Call him Li. Not gaki!" she ploughed Touya out of her doorway and trampled down the stairs.

"Don't forget your lunch!" Fujitaka reminded her. "Thanks Otousan!" She smiled sweetly at her father before cramming a piece of toast in her mouth, strapping on her roller blades and racing out the door.

She shivered in the cool autumn breeze as she skated off to meet Syaoran. Her Syao-bear was just barely poking out of the backpack. The sakura trees were almost bare and the sky was clouded over. There was a chill in the air and the wind picked up.

"Wow, you're a whole two minutes early!" Syaoran teased as Sakura skated up to him

Sakura sweat dropped. "You're starting to sound like my brother" she teased back, grinning

"Is that a good thing?" Syaoran asked. He leaned over and kissed her softly on the cheek.

She grinned. "Not if it's Touya!"

Syaoran glanced at his watch. "We better hurry up and get to school" He said, turning.

"Your right" Sakura agreed and they both raced off.

**********************************************

"Hi Sakura-chan" greeted Tomoyo in her usual, cheerful voice.

"Hello Tomoyo-chan, Meiling-chan." She said as Meiling sat down near Tomoyo. Meiling smiled in response.

"Oi! Li-kun!" called Takashi. He approached the group of four."Did you realise..."

"Takashi-kun!" Chiharu shot Takashi an annoyed look.

"Alright! Alright!" He said, sweat dropping."Besides, I don't think Li-kun is that gullible."

"I wouldn't be to sure" said Tomoyo. "Li-kun can be quite gullible at times." Everyone laughed and Syaoran sweat dropped.

"Settle down everyone" Jikangai-sensei commanded as he entered the room. Everyone quickly sat down and got ready for the class.

"Now first we shall.." Jikangai-sensei started but was interrupted.

"Look!" shouted Tenchi, standing up "It's snowing!"

"Class, you're all 17. I think a little snow shouldn't be a distraction. Pay attention."

"It's beautiful." Sakura breathed. Syaoran came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You want to go out later. For a walk?" He whispered in her ear.

"Sure." She answered. "Sounds like fun. The first snow of winter." She smiled up at Syaoran and he returned her smile with a warm one of his own.

**********************************************

"I love this time of year!" Sakura said as she kicked the snow with her boot and twirled around. Large, fluffy snowflakes were falling, covering the ground with a warm, fuzzy blanket of fresh snow. Other couples were out in the park enjoying the beauty of the falling snow.

Syaoran shuddered and wrapped his scarf tighter. "It's not this cold in Hong Kong, but I enjoy watching the snowfall." He looked towards the sky then at Sakura. "We could have done this earlier in the year with the Snow card."

"And miss out on the beauty of the first 'natural' snow of winter?! I think not Syao-kun!" She scooped up a handful of the fluffy snow and packed it into a ball. "Besides, wouldn't that be cheating? But you could have used the extra practice."

"Practice for what?" He asked, densely. He gave Sakura a confused look.

"For this!" She exclaimed as she threw the snowball she had made at Syaoran. It hit him full force in the side of the head.

"Oi!" He said, scooping up some snow of his own. "I'm gonna get you back for that!"

"I highly doubt it, Syao-kun!" She said and took off through the clearing, making a trail of footprints through the freshly fallen snow.

"Get back here!" He cried. He took off after her, tramping over her trail.

"Catch me if you can!" She teased as she ran, her long, light brown hair trailed behind her a she ran.

Syaoran grinned and with a final surge of energy, he tackled Sakura. Both went flying into the powdery fluff. Syaoran landed on top of Sakura. He pinned her shoulders to the ground and grinned down at her. "Gotcha" He said. She laughed.

"It's about time!" She said sarcastically, ginning.

"Are you calling me slow?!" He joked; pushing himself off her only to roll and lay beside her in the snow. He looked up to the almost bare sakura tree that they were laying under and spotted a lone sakura on one of the lower branches. It glistened in what little sunlight there was. "Isn't that blossom pretty?" He asked to no one.

"Yea." Sakura answered, smoothing her hair out. "It looks so lonely by it's self. It's the only one on the entire tree." She smiled.

Syaoran stood up and brushed himself off. Sakura gave him a confused glance and propped herself up by her elbows. Syaoran picked the sakura from the branch and knelt down next to Sakura. He pulled the ribbons out off her hair and tied the cherry blossom into on of her braids. The frosted sakura glittered as she moved her hair back and forth.

"It looks beautiful in your hair, Sakura-chan, and now it's not lonely."

"Thank you Syaoran!" Sakura murmured. She wrapped her arms around him, hugged him tightly and kissed him softly on his cheek.

"I"m just glad your happy." He whispered and hugged her back

**********************************************

"Where have -you- been?" Touya quipped as she kicked he boots off. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, a wry smile playing on his lips.

"Is it really any of -your- business?" She gripped back at him and hung her cost up. She shook her head back and forth to rid herself of the extra snow in her hair.

"Naw, but I felt I had the right to know. Was it with the gaki?" He raised one of his eyebrows and gave her an inquiring look. "Well was it?"

Sakura groaned in protest. "So what if it was? Why do you care so much anyway. Go do your 'so-called' homework with Yukito." She turned and marched up the stairs.

Touya growled then headed back to the kitchen where he and Yukito were working on their homework.

"Out with gaki again, ne?" Kero asked as she shut the door to her room.

"Yea, so?" She asked, gently untying the sakura from her hair. She set it on her bureau and pulled out the case that held her corsage from her graduation. She then gently placed the sakura inside along with a beautiful pink rose that Syaoran had surprised her with for her 16th birthday. The case also held a few other precious items that were of extreme importance to her. She shut the case and locked it, then placed it carefully back into the drawer that also held the Clow. As she was shutting the drawer she happened to look down toward the floor and spotted The Hope.

"Kero-chan," She asked, "why is The Hope out of the Clow?" She bent over and retrieved the large card that depicted a rather large red heart that had beautiful white wings and a small crown floating on top of the heart. Underneath, the card read in large letters 'The Hope'. She smiled, remembering the meaning of the card and opened the drawer again to re-insert the card into the Clow. But instead, she laid the Card on top of the Clow in the middle and shut the drawer, still unaware that just under half of the cards were missing.

"I don't know." The beast answered. He raised his head to sniff the air. "Something smells pretty good downstairs!" He said, almost drooling.

"All right Kero-chan, no need to start your begging. I'll bring you back desert.

"Alright!!" He whooped and flew around in circles and loops. "Hurry!" He called as she ran down the stairs.

"So what are we eating?" She asked as she skidded into the dining room

"Who ever said that you were aloud to eat." Touya said, taking a large bite out of a drumstick.

"Grrrrrr.." She growled and frowned. "You're a pain, Onii-san." She said, sliding into her chair.

"Like I've told you before, Sakura, just ignore To-ya-chan" Yukito said through his speed-of-light method of eating.

Touya shot Yukito an overly annoyed look. "Don't call me that in front of her" he hissed in Yukito's ear. Yukito shrugged and continued to scarf down his dinner.

A few minutes later, Sakura stood and walked over to the sink. She set her plate down in the basin and set off upstairs. "I'll eat my dessert in my room." She called and grabbed her plate of dessert and headed upstairs. 

"Pudding!" Cried Kero in pure joy. The minute the plate was set down, Kero was into the pudding, scarfing it down so quickly and messily it appeared the he had inhaled the entire thing.

Sakura sighed. "Could you be any messier while eating?" She asked sardonically.

"Sure" he answered, "I just choose not to be"

"Yea, I'll believe that when pigs fly!" 

"Then you better believe it now!" He said, enjoying his hold over the conversation, "Pigs can fly. You just have to watch very carefully. You must be blind if you can see them. They've even got little wings on their hooves. Just ask any pig! "

"You better stop telling those wild stories. You're starting to sound like Yamazaki-kun" She pulled out her homework and began working.

Kero's eyes widened. "No!" He cried sarcastically. He dropped to the floor and staggered around for a few seconds, clutching where his heart should be. "I'm mortally wounded! I'll never recover!" He groaned and fell over.

Sakura laughed. "Looks like Kero-chan won't be getting any more sweets!" She shook her finger and said "Tisk, tisk. He died from a heart attack because of his wild stories and -way- to many sweets."

Kero's eyes watered. "You wouldn't stop getting me sweets, would you?" His eyes became very large and he put on his best puppy-dog face.

Sakura sighed. "All right. I give in. I won't stop being your vending machine."

Kero glomped her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" He exclaimed, but the words came out all slurred together.

"Calm down!" She cried and pulled the etastic creature from her neck. "Can I get my homework done now?" She asked.

Kero sweat dropped. "Okay."

**********************************************

"Done!" Sakura exclaimed triumphantly. She shut her textbooks and loaded them into her backpack.

"Sakura!" Came her father's voice. Kero flew to her bureau and sat on it stiffly, imitating a stuffed animal. Her father opened her door and stuck his head in. "you better get some sleep now." He said kindly.

"Okay, Otousan." She replied giving him one of her cute smiles.

"Good." He said "Good night then." With that he closed her door softly. Kero waited until he could no longer hear Fujitaka's footsteps.

"Whew! It's hard pretending to be a stuffed animal." He flew to Sakura's bed and sat next to her Syao-bear. He glanced at the bear then glowered at it like it was Syaoran. He continued this until Sakura climbed into her bed and cuddled her Syao-bear.

"Good night Kero-chan!" Sakura whispered softly

"Good night Sakura." He replied.

**********************************************

"What's going on here?" Sakura asked, her voice echoing in the darkness. She blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness. Suddenly a blinding light filled the area. She shielded her eyes against the light. When the light finally dimmed down, she found herself surrounded by twenty-five people, faces hidden in shadows as the light contrasted against the dark. Each person glowed with a different power and a card appeared in front of him or her. The people grabbed their card and walked in the opposite direction.

"Wait!"Sakura screamed. She reached for the Time card but found it to be missing.

"Syaoran!" She shrieked. A shadowy figure appeared in front of her and grasped her hand. The figure pulled the Key of the Clow from her hand and placed it between its hands. Sakura found herself instinctively grasping the figures hands. The key began to glow and they both let go. The key glimmered and took its new shape.

"The master staff" the figure said and walked away. Sakura raced off to try and catch the figure. She grasped wildly at its cloak only to come up with nothing.

"Help me!" She yelped hoarsely. She felt herself become confused and lost. "Someone help me!" She gasped. The darkness began to overcome the light and it crept up to Sakura. She was surrounded. The darkness washed over her and she fell into nothing..

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Preview of Chapter Two:

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"They're gone!" Sakura yelped. She stepped back away from the drawer, unable to come up with a logical explanation for the disappearance of twenty-five Sakura Cards.

"This is not good." Was all Kero could say. Sakura could tell he was deeply worried but was unable to help him. Her only clues as to how the cards had disappeared without a trace was her unusual dream and The Hope.

"What am I going to do?" She wondered.

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By Azarya 

Your comments are appreciated. ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters form CCS. They belong to their rightful owners. I'm not making a profit off of this so please do not sue me. 


	2. The Power Of An Angel

Illusions of Love ~ Chapter 2

The Power of an Angel 

"Hoe?" Sakura bolted upright and became entangled in her sheets. "I haven't had a dream like that for a while." She ran her fingers through her tangled hair, smoothing it out of her face and stumbled out of her bed.

"Kero-chan?" She asked, poking the sleeping beast. "Wake up." She whispered. The seal beast slowly awoke and yawned.

"Why are you awake?" He asked, rubbing his eyes with his paws.

"I had a dream." She answered, pulling on her robe. She crept downstairs, Kero following closely behind her.

"What was it about this time?" He asked, hovering just above her right shoulder. He watched as Sakura turned on the kitchen tap and grabbed a glass.

"It was strange, Kero-chan. Some of the Sakura Cards disappeared and with people and a strange, shadowy person helped me transform my staff to the master staff. It was very weird." She filled the glass with cold water and gulped down half the glass.

"The Sakura Cards? Aren't they in the Clow?

"Yes, all but the Hope card." She set down the empty glass and leaned against the counter "you think the dream means something?"

"Could be. We should check the Clow and see if something is wrong. Besides, your dreams usually mean something."

"Okay." She answered and crept back upstairs making sure that she didn't wake any of her family members. She carefully shut the door to her room and moved to the drawer where the Clow was kept. She slide the door open and pulled out the Hope and the Clow.

"All right, now open the book." Kero said, impatiently.. He sat next to the Clow on her desk and waited.

Sakura gingerly un-latched the lock and opened the heavy cover.

"Hoee!?" Was Sakura's reaction when she looked inside. Kero spazed out.

"They're gone!" Sakura yelped. She stepped back away from the drawer, unable to come up with a logical explanation for the disappearance of twenty-five Sakura Cards.

"This is not good." Was all Kero could say. Sakura could tell he was deeply worried but was unable to help him. Her only clues as to how the cards had disappeared without a trace was her unusual dream and The Hope.

"What am I going to do?" She wondered.

Kero dropped to the floor and tried to transform to his true form but he found he couldn't. "Firey and Earth are gone." He said, frowning.

Sakura shuffled through the deck, looking for the missing cards.

"Tell Yue." Kero said sternly. He flew to the widow and beckoned Sakura to follow. She speedily got dressed and followed Kero to the windowsill.

"Key that hold the power of darkness. Grant your true form unto me. This by our contract, Sakura commands you, RELEASE!"

Sakura watched as her staff elongated and transformed to its true form. "Fly!" She commanded. The card obliged and gave her a set of silvery, pale pink wings. She jumped from the sill and took off with Kero into the night air.

"Yue!" She called, landing a short distance in front of Yukito's house.

"Sakura?" Came his sleepy voice. He appeared at the window and looked down at her.

"Yukito! I need to speak to Yue!" She called, retracting her wings. Her voice was beginning to become hysterical. She needed to speak to Yue quickly.

"Yue?" He asked as if he did not understand. A brilliant light surrounded him and he changed to his true form.

"What is the matter, Sakura?" He asked, searching her first for an explanation.

"The Sakura Cards...." She started "Some of them...are gone!" She rushed to him and hugged his waist. He stroked her hair and comforted her.

"It's all right" He said "but tell me, when did they notice that they were missing?"

"Right before I came here." She trembled and sniffed back her tears.

"That's right" Kero said.

"How come you're in that form, Cerberus?" Yue asked an angry, confused Kero. The beast hovered half-heartedly above Yue's left shoulder and frowned at the comment.

"The power cards have disappeared." He said shortly.

Yue frowned. "I'll get the details later. Sakura, you should tell everyone associated with the cards about this. Including Eriol. Meanwhile...I'm confused.."

Sakura looked up at Yue. "You mean you can't help?"

"Not right now anyway." He said. "My power has decreased and Cerberus and I... Our.. Well.. Our powers have diminished. We are of no use to you."

"But you are of use! You guide me! I still don't know a lot about the cards and magic. Please help me!" She pleaded.

"We'll help you when we can." Yue said and disappeared into the dark house.

"He's right, Sakura" Kero said. We'll help you when we can."

"I hope you're right, Kero-chan. I really hope you're right." Sakura sighed as she once again called upon Fly. The vibrant wings shone in the moonlight as she took off into the air.

'Yue didn't help me and neither did Kero-chan' Sakura thought. She looked over her shoulder to see a worried Cerberus flying closely behind her. 'Maybe Syaoran and Eriol will be more help.'

Her wings shrank as she landed on her windowsill. She crawled back thought the window and hung her robe on the end of her bed. Kero landed on the desk and paced back on forth buried in thought. Sakura then crawled into her bed. As she fell asleep she heard Kero muttering as he paced. 

"I'll talk to Syaoran tomorrow." She murmured as she drifted off to sleep.

***************************************************************

"What's going on here?" Sakura asked, her voice echoing in the darkness. She blinked twice, trying to adjust her eyes to the pitch black. Suddenly a blinding light filled the area. She shielded her eyes against the light. When the light finally dimmed down, she found herself surrounded by twenty-five people, faces hidden in shadows as the light contrasted against the dark. The magic circle appeared under foot, the people forming a perfect ring around her. Each person glowed with an aura of a different power and a card appeared in front of him or her. Sakura tried her best to make out what cards were shown but she was unsuccessful. All but one of the people grabbed their card and walked in the opposite direction. The remaining person grasped their card and was surrounded by a pale blue light and the card transformed into a sword. The person then walked off, the sword resting lightly on their shoulder.

"Wait!"Sakura screamed. She reached for the Time card but found it to be missing.

"Syaoran!" She shrieked. A shadowy figure appeared in front of her and grasped her hand. As he did, his hood fell off to revel Syaoran's mass of brown hair. He pulled the Key of the Clow from her hand and placed it between his hands. Sakura found herself instinctively grasping his hands as well. The key began to glow and they both let go. The key glimmered and took its new shape.

"The master staff" He said and walked away. Sakura raced off to try and catch up with him. She grasped wildly at his cloak only to come up with nothing.

"Help me!" She yelped hoarsely. She felt herself become confused and lost. "Someone help me!" She gasped. The darkness began to overcome the light and it crept up to Sakura. She was surrounded. The darkness washed over her and she fell into nothing..

***************************************************************

"Syaoran, wait up!" Sakura cried running after him. She collapsed to her knees to catch her breath.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" He asked her, helping her to her feet.

"Sakura Cards...missing...Kero-chan...Yue...no help" She panted as Syaoran helped her up."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down and explain!" Syaoran exclaimed. Sakura panted and caught her breath before she explained anything.

"The Sakura Cards went missing. Yue and Kero-chan are no help to this situation and the only people left that can help me are you and Eriol."

"Nani?" Came Tomoyo's voice. She rounded the corner of the wall and joined Sakura and Syaoran. Sakura sighed and explained the situation once again. Tomoyo nodded and she and Syaoran exchanged glances.

"So what are we going to do?" Sakura asked her face covered with a worried expression and her mind filled with persistent and fearful thoughts.

"Why don't you call Hiiragizawa-kun?" Tomoyo asked, imputing her opinion on the situation. "Since he's half of Clow Reed, he should have an idea or some information that could be of some use." She pulled Sakura's portable phone from her backpack. Sakura was about to dial his number in England when the phone rang.

'Oh great.' Sakura thought. 'Now I'll have to deal with this call before I can handle the problem. Hopefully it's not Oniisan. If it is I'll give him a piece of my mind.' "Moshi-moshi?" She asked, half expecting to hear her brother voice.

"Sakura-chan...Long time, ne?" Sakura instantly recognised the voice."

"Hiiragizawa-kun?" She asked, surprised. "I was just going to call you."

"I know. And I know why you were going to. Problem's with the Sakura Cards?" He didn't sound that worried. 

"Yes, you knew?" Sakura knew that he often knew things before they actually happened but she didn't realise that he still used his magic. 

"Of course. And the answer to your questions are; no I don't know why this is happening, no I can't really help but I'll try, and yes, you'll just have to defeat the powers when they appear."

"Great, that helps" She said sarcastically. "How are you suppose to help when you're in England?" She asked, changing her tone of voice.

"Oh, didn't Tomoyo tell you? I'm coming back to Tomoeda."

Sakura looked up in disbelief. Tomoyo sweat dropped and shot her own 'I-didn't-do-any-thing-wrong' look. "I -was- going to mention it...eventually"

Sakura and Syaoran fell over anime style and Sakura heard Eriol laugh at the other end of the phone. "I guess she didn't then. Oh well, I'll be there in a few days. I hope nothing severe happens while I'm not there."

"I hope so to, Hiiragizawa-kun. We'll see you when you come. Ja ne."

"Ja ne Sakura-chan."

Sakura hung up the phone. "Well, it looks like we're on our own for the next few days." She said, tossing the phone back in her bag.

"We can handle...Can't we?" Syaoran asked taking hold of Sakura's hand as they started to walk.

"Of course. Sakura-chan can handle anything" Tomoyo said as she caught up with Sakura and Syaoran. She had a dreamy sort of look in her eyes, as if she wasn't really paying attention to anything else.

"Let's hope" Syaoran said. "This may prove to be more of a challenge than anything else."

***************************************************************

"Augh!" Sakura said, frustrated. She slammed her head against her math textbook and groaned. "I -really- need some sleep.."

"Did you say you need something to eat? Because I sure do!" Kero exclaimed as he zoomed around the corner to land on her bed in front of her.

Sakura looked up from her textbook through tousled hair and groaned as she sweat dropped. "Why couldn't you have lost your appetite? You're a real pain. You do realise that, don't you?"

"Maybe...but I will never lose my appetite! I am Cerberus! The Seal Best of the Clow! The..."

"The flying-rat-who-reminds-me-ever-so-much-of-Yamazaki-and-that-will-eventually-burst-from-too-many-sweets." Sakura finished for Kero. She smacked him with a pillow and held it over his head, hoping he'd suffocate.

"But...." Came Kero's muffled pleas from under the soft pink pillow.

"Don't start!" Sakura warned "or I won't bring you back any pudding from the kitchen." She removed the pillow from his head.

Kero put on his best puppy-dog face. "You wouldn't do that.. Would you?

"I can and I will." She said, standing up. She walked out of her room and down the hall. Kero followed her.

"Fine," He said as they descended the stairs. "See if I care."

"But you will." Sakura quipped. Kero frowned. He had lost that battle. As soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs, the phone that Kero usually wore around his neck rang. Sakura quickly grasped the phone.

"Moshi moshi?" She asked, signalling an insistent Kero to go away so he couldn't eavesdrop.

"Sakura" came Syaoran's voice from the other end of the call. "Have you sensed anything...odd?"

Sakura laughed. "Don't joke around Syaoran. No I haven't. I don't think one of those cards would attack so soon."

"I'm serious Sakura.. Have you?" His voice sounded slightly worried.

"Sort of, I guess." Sakura answered. She suddenly got a familiar, unforgettable sensation that she hadn't felt for five or six years. "Forget what I said earlier, Syaoran. I definitely sense something." Kero nodded in agreement. Sakura frowned at Kero for eavesdropping. "The I'll meet you at Tomoyo's house."

"All right." Said Sakura. She hung up the phone and pulled on her jacket. Kero followed her as she raced out the door in the direction of Tomoyo's house.

***************************************************************

"This reminds me of when we were younger!" Tomoyo gushed. She had dressed Sakura, Syaoran and Kero in matching battle costumes.

Sakura was now dressed in in a costume which Tomoyo called the 'The Creeper'. She wore a cropped, pink tank top with matching tight pink pants. Over these pants she wore a hip-cut, black skirt and calf-high, black boots with a pink band around the top of the boots and around the top and bottoms of the odd cut skirt. On top of all this she wore a black, sleeveless, trench coat that had pink highlights. At the back of the coat were two, pink strips of leather that hung from the back of the jacket between her shoulder blades. These were tipped with black and hung down to her feet. To accent the outfit, she wore matching pink gloves with black bands around the top that stretched from her wrist to just above her elbow. On top of this she wore a pink choker and a black headband with pink highlights.

Syaoran was dressed in a black trench coat similar to Sakura's but had the sleeves rolled up to his shoulders. He wore baggy white pants tied with a green sash and a loose, white tank top. He had a white strip of cloth ties around his head in a bandana. He also wore green bands around his wrists. His sword was slung over his back and he wore black boots.

Kero wore a cute version over Syaoran's outfit minus the jacket, pants, boots and bandana.

"How KAWAII!" Was Tomoyo's reaction. Yue shook his head. "Don't worry about the cold. Everything is lined with fleece." She smiled and grabbed her camera and jacket.

"There it is again!' Sakura exclaimed. She raced out of the van and activated fly. Syaoran followed with Kero and Tomoyo and his heels while Yue chased after Sakura in the starry sky.

'Where is it?' Syaoran wondered as he dodged trees. He kept his eye on Sakura as he quickly moved through the trees.

"Where do you think you're going, Syaoran Li?"

Syaoran spun around to find a girl his age walking out from the shadows. The girl held out a Sakura card and activated it. "Sword!" She called and the card glowed. Syaoran watched as the card elongated and became solid. It took the form of a sword, similar to the sword that Sakura's staff became when she called upon the card.

"Sakura!" Syaoran yelled. "I found the card!" Kero and Tomoyo came running up behind him and Sakura and Yue landed on the ground a few short seconds late. Tomoyo retreated to a tree and watched from a safe distance.

"So this is what happens when a card merges with a person." Said Yue. He frowned and studied the girl. She surged with energy and launched herself at Syaoran. Syaoran drew his sword and blocked her attack in time. 

"The card is much more powerful than when we first battled it, Sakura. It must be the after effects of the merging." He dared not to attack the human card. (Or homo-mahou "magic human" ^^my creation)

"So how do we defeat it?" Sakura asked, she staff drawn and ready.

"You need more power" said Yue. He seemed quite calm.

"But how?!" Sakura was beginning to become frustrated but she knew she must keep her mind clear.

"Give me your hands." Said Syaoran. He grasped hold of her hands and took hold of the staff. "Power down." He commanded and the staff obeyed and once more became the key. "Concentrate on the key, Sakura." He said, placing it in her palms and wrapping his hands around hers. He closed his eyes and Sakura did the same.

Sakura felt he power surged through her body to her hands where hers and Syaoran's powers clashed. They built up a force and where their hands met began to glow brilliantly. Kero and Yue lit up as well. Sakura looked up in surprise and almost broke the hold. 'It's just like my dream' she thought.

"Don't be afraid, Sakura" Syaoran comforted. "Concentrate."

Sakura obliged and they continued to let their powers clash until the glowing stopped. Sakura looked around to see what had happened.

Kero and Yue slowly got to their feet and they took one look at each other and nearly fainted. Cerberus now stood 6 foot 3. He had kept his wings and tail but now wore golden garments and had on the silver armour that he normally wore when he was in his true form. He spread his wings and tested them.

"I'm...I'm ....human!" Kero exclaimed. He whooped for joy as he tried his new hands and fingers and flicked his tail. The rest of them just stood in disbelief.

Yue had a change in garments. He now sported an outfit almost similar to his former garments but reversed. The colours had been reversed and instead of white, they were silver.

"Look at the key." Said Syaoran. He held it out for her. She took hold of it and examined it closely. It resembled the staff that she had briefly used when she and Syaoran had combined powers to transform the Light and the Dark. It had beautiful white wings, a star in the centre and a half a sun underneath to support the star and the wings.

"Key that holds the power of Darkness! Reveal your true form unto me! This by our contract....RELEASE!" She commanded. The key instantly glowed and took its true form. The staff looked exactly like the key except..Larger.

"Now we should be able to defeat it." He said and they both launched themselves at the girl and prepared to attack......

***************************************************************

Preview of Chapter Three

__

"Hiiragizawa-kun! You're back!" Tomoyo ran up to him and hugged him tightly. "I'm glad to see you."

"I feel the same, Daijouii-chan" He hugged her back.

"We're back!" Came Nakuru's voice. The guardian ran off the plane and latched her self onto Syaoran.

"Get off him!" Sakura growled "Go find my brother if you insist on doing that."

Another human walked off the plane and walk right up to Cerberus. "Long time no see, Cerberus."

"Spinel?!" Kero said. He took off running.

"You just **-had- **to bring them, didn't you Hiiragizawa-kun?" Sakura asked, exasperated. Everyone sweat dropped.

***************************************************************

By Azarya 


	3. Nobody Ever Suspects...The Butterfly

****

Illusions of Love ~ Chapter Three

**~~Nobody Ever Suspects...The Butterfly~~ **

Syaoran and Sakura released battle cries as they clashed with the homo-mahou. The sounds of steel against steel could be heard echoing throughout the clearing. The Sword easily deflected their attempts.

"We have to get the sword out of her hand!" Shouted Sakura to Syaoran. They had placed themselves on either side of the girl and their eyes never left her. Syaoran pulled out his ofuda and held it up for Sakura to see. She gave him a horrified look. "Are you insane?!" She asked her eyes wide. She quickly called upon Dash to avoid another attack from the card.

"Probably" he said, not an air of worry in his voice. "God of Wind! Descend!" A billowing wind erupted from the ofuda and surrounded the homo-mahou and knocked the sword from her clutches. Sakura took this advantage and used her new staff to re-seal the escaped card.

"Return to your true form Sakura Card! Sword!" She cried. The star on the staff spun wildly and the sword was pulled up into the air and then sucked into the form of a pink card, depicting an ancient fencing sword.

"Finally!" Exclaimed Kero, jumping down from the perch in a tree. "Now we can go home and eat!"

"How do you think you'll accomplish that Kero-chan. Especially when you're in -that- form?" Said Yue, reverting back to his original (Yue) form.

"Easy" said Kero. He tried to change back to his 'stuffed animal' form but he couldn't. "What the!? I'm stuck! Get me out of this form!"

Sakura sweat dropped and sighed. "Sorry Kero-chan but for now you're stuck like that."

The golden guardian's face fell. "How am I supposed to get past your father and brother then?"

"You'll have to stay with Eriol when he comes." She replied sounding cheerful at the thought of being rid of Kero.

"Please don't let Spinel be there. Please don't let Spinel be there. Or Nakuru." Kero chanted becoming hopeful.

"You better not keep your hopes up" Said Yue. "If I know Hiiragizawa-sama then he will bring them. They are his guardians after all."

"Well you know as well as I do that he can't stand Nakuru for long." Cerberus shot back, angrily.

"Well just have to wait and see." Sighed Syaoran.

**********************************************

Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo and Cerberus (in his now human form) stood waiting patiently for the hatch on Eriol's plane to open. Syaoran and Cerberus looked quite nervous but Sakura and Tomoyo were perfectly fine.

"Touya-san was smart and stayed at home." Said Syaoran shifting his weight from his left foot to his right, a worried look plastered on his face.

"Syaoran!" Hissed Sakura, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Gomen!" Syaoran wheezed.

The sound of compressed air was heard as the hatch on the plane opened and became a ramp to the ground. A tall teenager with wild navy-blue hair and glasses stepped out into the sunlight and smiled down at the small welcoming committee.

"Konnichiwa, minna-san." He said cheerfully, advancing down the ramp to the black asphalt.

"Eriol-kun!" Exclaimed Tomoyo she ran to meet him, giving him a huge welcoming hug.

"So far so good" Whispered Syaoran to Sakura, the worried look fading. She nodded silently.

"I'm back!" Sang Nakuru. The guardian's voice rang loudly from the inside of the plane. She stepped out from the plane and smiled as something caught her eye. The next thing everyone knew, Nakuru was firmly attached to Syaoran gushing, "He looks just like Touya-kun!"

"Get off of him!" Exclaimed Sakura in both surprise and anger. Syaoran eyes were pleading his case. She watched as he mouthed 'HELP ME!' to her. "If you insist on doing that, go find my brother!" Sakura said her voice a low growl.

"Alrighty then!" She said in a singsong voice and ran off to glomp a bishonen at the check-in counter. [NOTE: I'll call Nakuru a 'she' because it looks like a she.]

Syaoran sighed. "I spoke too soon."

They looked back up the ramp to see a tall man that resembled Kero's new form. Instead of golden hair. The stranger had raven-blue hair and almost black eyes. He walked down the ramp and right up to Cerberus. "Long time no see, Cerberus." He said, his voice laced with a mocking tone.

"Spinel!?!" Kero cried. Spinel smirked as he watched Cerberus run in the opposite direction.

"You just -had- to bring them... didn't you?" Sakura asked looking exasperated. She sweat dropped as she heard a scream come from a man across the room. 

"Nakuru" everyone said in unison, all with huge sweat drops on the back of their heads. 

"I had to bring them. If I left them alone in England, they would have killed each other." Eriol explained.

"That would have been a good thing." Syaoran said, a wry smile on his face but he was truly irritated. "Great.. Just great.."

***************************************

"So do you want to do anything tonight?" Tomoyo asked, her camera pointed at eye level surprisingly at Spinel and Kero. The two beasts were sitting in Tomoyo's living room at opposites ends of the soft velvet couch. Eriol sweat dropped.

"Sure" answered Sakura. She was curled up on the couch, her head nuzzled into Syaoran's chest. His arms were wrapped around her in a warm embrace. They looked extremely kawaii.

"If Touya-san saw you two like that, he'd kill poor Li-kun." Eriol laughed. He twirled his fingers through a few strands of Tomoyo's silky hair.

Sakura felt Syaoran stiffen slightly at Eriol's words. "Don't worry Syaoran, Oniichan knows nothing. So how about we go for a walk?"

"Sounds good to us." Said Tomoyo she looked to Eriol and he nodded.

"All right then, let's go." Said Sakura. They all stood and grabbed their jackets and headed out the door.

"Hey!? Where do we go?" Asked Kero, frowning.

"To the house Eriol rented." Sakura said smiling. "With Nakuru"

"Nooooooooooo!" Was Kero and Spinel's response. "Anything but that!"

"Go now!" Was Eriol's response. His voice thundered throughout the house and made the windows rattle.

"Okay okay okay!" Exclaimed Kero and Spinel. They raced out of the house in the direction of Eriol's.

"Finally" was everyone's response and they all left.

***************************************

"Tell me again why we're following them?" Yukito asked Touya. Touya frowned in response and blew his long, chestnut bangs from his face.

"Because I don't trust the 'gaki'" He finally replied. He shoved his hands deeper into his jacket pockets and glared at the ground. 

~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~

"Why do I feel as if we are being followed?" Asked Syaoran, looking quickly in all directions to see if his

suspictions were correct.

"Impossible" Sakura answered. "Oniichan and Yukito-san studying and Spinel-san and Kero-chan are with Nakuru... although I'm not sure that was a good idea.. No one could be following us."

Eriol sighed deeply and Tomoyo grabbed his arm and held him back, letting Sakura and Syaoran walk ahead of them.

"What do you know that we don't?" She asked, her amethyst eyes burning into his. Eriol sighed and gave in. "Touya-san and Yukito-san are 'sort of' following us." He broke the eye contact that he and Tomoyo had made. "Should we tell Sakura-chan?" She asked, already knowing his answer.

"No. We don't want to ruin this for her."

~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~

"There's nothing to worry about, To-ya." Yukito said, calming Touya down. "Let's go home. We both have Finals tomorrow."

"Fine." Touya said, reluctantly. He and Yukito changed their direction towards the train station.

The minute Touya and Yukito turned around, Syaoran slipped his arm around Sakura's waist and hugged her close to him as they walked.

Touya turned around to see if he had missed anything and saw Syaoran with his arm around his sisters waist. Yukito had to restrain him. "Hey grabby hands! Step away from the sister!" Was what he managed to shout before Yukito dragged him onto the train.

~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~

Nakuru sighed. 'No Touya to glomp, no Yukito to bug. Suppi-chan and Cerberus are having a starring contest. What am I suppose to do?'

"Your thinking too loudly" Spinel growled to Nakuru, not letting his eyes leave Cerberus.

"Damnit you stupid beasts!" Nakuru screamed, her voice rising hysterically. "I'm bored out of my damn mind and you're complaining that I'm THINKING too loud!? You are both driving me INSANE!" She ran out of the room to some place where she could have fun and not be driven insane by silence.

"What's with her?" Kero asked, adverting his gaze to the remote control. He ran his fingers through his wild golden hair and flicked on the TV. He then idly began to surf through the channels.

"I have no idea" Spinel answered, kicking his legs up on the coffee table and relaxing.

"So Spinel" Started Kero, his gaze not leaving the television. "Do you have -all- your parts?"

Spinel's eyes widened at the nature of his question. "Uh...yes, why?"

"Just wondering.. Well do they -work-?" Kero asked, a small smile on his face from Spinel's reaction. Spinel's face became very pale and he quickly walked out of the room. "Get's em' every time." Snickered Kero.

~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~

Touya frowned, arms crossed. He hated how Yukito had dragged him away from 'gaki'. He could have taught him a lesson for having his arm around her waist. Yukito sat beside him, half-asleep, and head lolling on the seat. Touya leaned his head back and gazed up at the ceiling of the train.

Touya found himself slightly out of it as the train slowed to pick up more passengers at a station. He was pulled out of this daze by a young woman.

"Excuse me?" She asked, her maroon hair spilling over her shoulders. "May I sit here?" She asked and gestured to the empty seat next to Touya.

He nodded "Hai." The sweet scent of roses flooded his nostrils and he smiled. 'That smells good' he thought, his eyes half-closed.

She opened a folder that she had with her and began to sketch and make notes. She sighed slightly bored and sniffed the air. 'Mmmmm... peaches' she thought 'Where is that smell coming from' She inhaled again and found the smell to be coming from the man sitting next to her. "Mmmmmm...yummy." She murmured.

***************************************

**_Preview of Chapter Four_:**

_"I'm so sorry!" She said, gathering up her papers that had been scattered on the ground._

"No it was my fault." Touya said quickly. He knelt down to help her pick up the papers. He picked up one of the sheets and glanced at it. He did a double take and saw that the pictures and notes were of him. A blush stretched across his face. She grabbed the paper from him and she flushed.

"And this is...?" His cheeks reddening.

**********************************************

By Azarya 

Disclaimer: Same as always! ^_^

Like it? Hate it? Please send any flames or comments to me at: [aquacrystal_00@hotmail.com] 


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